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Answers (10)
- Toby & John T. Williams, "tjplace"
- Contributions:271
Most people would be wise to spend LESS than they are approved for. Make sure you know what mortgage amount AND at what property tax amount you are approved for. Do you realize that a difference of $1,000 in taxes = $10,000 in mortgage!
Try not to make yourself "house poor". I mean, don't own a home and then never be able to afford dinner at McDonalds! You have mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities. You want to be able to have money left for a life and for saving every month too. Good luck.
Try not to make yourself "house poor". I mean, don't own a home and then never be able to afford dinner at McDonalds! You have mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities. You want to be able to have money left for a life and for saving every month too. Good luck.
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5666
The approach is kind of bass-ackwards.
The first thing you should do is establish a financial plan and determine how much of a house payment fits in your plan.
Then, using online mortgage calculators and current rates, determine what the max loan you would be able to afford with that house payment. Remember that your house payment should include taxes and insurance.
Then look at how much you are approved for. Take the lower of the two values as your "max". When you do this, also make sure to take into account down payment and closing cost.
The first thing you should do is establish a financial plan and determine how much of a house payment fits in your plan.
Then, using online mortgage calculators and current rates, determine what the max loan you would be able to afford with that house payment. Remember that your house payment should include taxes and insurance.
Then look at how much you are approved for. Take the lower of the two values as your "max". When you do this, also make sure to take into account down payment and closing cost.
- doralgate
- Contributions:139
Look at all the Realtor's trying to push you higher than your approved amount....this is very common....I have long ago made the decision NOT to work with any realtor that even shows my one property over the amount I told them to look at upfront.
The same holds for loan officers. It is in their best interest to sell you the highest mortgage possible and therefore approve you for the highest amount possible no matter if that is in your best interest or not.
Please make sure you run your own numbers and know what you can really afford. Everybody else in this process is only playing with YOUR money and a little bit more of YOUR money spend won't hurt them but only you.
The same holds for loan officers. It is in their best interest to sell you the highest mortgage possible and therefore approve you for the highest amount possible no matter if that is in your best interest or not.
Please make sure you run your own numbers and know what you can really afford. Everybody else in this process is only playing with YOUR money and a little bit more of YOUR money spend won't hurt them but only you.
- Marion Howard, "Marion A"
- Contributions:25
First . Are you confortable with the loan amount that you qualify for?
You need to consider closing cost ....
You should stay close to the qualified amount ..considering homes that are price over could slow the process. In my opinion I would not exceed by more than10K
Marion Howard
860-647-9095
- sunnyview
- Contributions:25139
I would probably not look over about 5% of list price so that you can compare apples to apples, but make sure that your agent notifies you of price changes when they happen.
You also need to make sure that your maximum qualification amount is something you are comfortable paying every month. The bank says what you qualify for, but you decide what you can really afford. Having a little breathing room can be nice especially since home ownership comes with maintenance.
You also need to make sure that your maximum qualification amount is something you are comfortable paying every month. The bank says what you qualify for, but you decide what you can really afford. Having a little breathing room can be nice especially since home ownership comes with maintenance.
- Elliot Sirota, "elliotsirota"
- Contributions:63
If that is your max purchase price approval, then you should look at no more then that price but but actually a little less if you are comfortable affording the payment that goes with that amount of mortgage. Don't waste you time looking at anything over that amount since you would get frustrated that you could not afford it and like the home.
- Dana Voelzke, "danbury_realtor"
- Contributions:824
This is a common question. Ask your Realtor for the average list to sale price ratio (the average in my area is 93%). In your scenario that means about $320,000. You can look (a little) higher to get a sense of what a little bit more money will buy you which will help you understand your market better, but be sure not to frustrate yourself by shopping out of your affordability range. Happy hunting!
- melissa1030
- Contributions:2
Perhaps I should have reworded this...If you have been pre-approved for 300K for a home, should I only look at homes 300K or less in efforts to buy the home for less then what was approved... or is it okay to view and consider properties that are being sold at let's say 315K-320K keeping in consideration that some homes maybe on the market for a longer period of time and in result sellers maybe willing to settle for less than 300K if they are desperate. Which still may put me at less $ than what I was approved for!
- FriendshipProperties
- Contributions:783
Hopefully you worded that wrong. But if you are approved for a specific loan amount, that means that is your MAX and in fact you should seriously consider spending less than that.
- Michelle Cote, "okwithcote"
- Contributions:128
What?
You need to be certain that you provide your Realtor with your approval amount. Then, you should have a discussion with her (I am a girl), with what your thoughts are on procuring a home.
It just works better if your agent is on the same page as you from the get go.
Interview a few agents and find the one that fits you - and go from there.
Just be up front with your intentions, so no one is frustrated or ticked off in the end.
You need to be certain that you provide your Realtor with your approval amount. Then, you should have a discussion with her (I am a girl), with what your thoughts are on procuring a home.
It just works better if your agent is on the same page as you from the get go.
Interview a few agents and find the one that fits you - and go from there.
Just be up front with your intentions, so no one is frustrated or ticked off in the end.
If you are approved for a specific loan amount, how much over that amount should you begin looking?
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